Month: October 2017

I’ve finally added the revamped version of my debut novel to Goodreads! You can add it, among other things, if you want to. It has no official release date as of yet, because I’m still editing it, but I will update the page as soon as I know!

It has a new cover and a new title and I couldn’t be more excited for all of you to read this new book! I even get to add a blurb to the cover, as I got a really nice one from a beta a few months ago!

Add it on Goodreads to make me smile! Thanks and stay tuned for the next update!

I have a very good feeling about NaNo this year. I’ve been working on my project since August 4th and cannot wait to work on it this month.

The entire first draft was written in sixteen days and I’ve been working on revising it since then. The seventh draft currently sits at nearly 57,000 words and I will be working on boosting it up to 65-70K this month. I’ve also got AMM later this month, so I’ll be spending the first 20 days of November trying to up the word count as much as I can. I’m going to be presenting a very long post today, to settle down and get ready to read.

This is the fifth NaNo I’ve participated in, as I’ve done regular NaNo and Camp NaNo a few times. I’ve got a lot more words under my belt this time around, so I have a feeling I’ll be getting a lot more done next month.

I want to talk about a few things, like how I write so fast, how I write so much in so little time, my outlining tips and tricks, my writing goals for NaNo, and my current projects.

Next, lets talk about how I write so fast in so little time and how you can do the same! I wrote the entire first draft of The Daughter of Cerridwen in about sixteen days, from August fourth to August Twentieth. One of the main things that helped me write this book so fast was an outline. I have always been a pantser and have always hated outlining for as long as I can remember. When I started thinking about this particular project, an outline was the first thing that came to mind. I knew that this would be a complex project and knew that an intense amount of planning would need to go into the project. Once I got that figured out, everything flowed so nicely.

I also make super intense character profiles for each of my characters, major or minor, along with an accompanying aesthetic. I like to include a lot of different things in my profiles like, name, eye/hair color, traits, likes/dislikes, and small family tree, among a few other things. My profiles can get a little intense and super important to my writing process. I also love making maps of my worlds, as it helps me imagine everything a little better.

My writing goals for NaNoWriMo aren’t as much a reach as they have been in previous years. This year, I’m aiming to add about 10-20K to my manuscript to make it around 70K, though more will be added later. I’m hoping this will be a super successful NaNo.

Lastly, my currently projects, including TDoC, are two rewrites of some old books and a sequel to TDoC, which I’m super excited about.

I’ve got a lot going on in the next two months, as I’ve mentioned in previous updates.

Life wise, I’ve got NaNoWriMo and I’ll be in Charleston for two and half days for YallFest. I couldn’t be more excited about attending the festival and cannot wait to leave!

Writing wise, I not only have NaNoWriMo, I also have multiple writing projects. I’m planning on re-self publishing my self pubbed Fantasy novel, BBBaWitS, with a new title, new cover, and completely reedited. I’ve already made the cover and couldn’t be more excited to get this book back out in the world! My dad is actually helping me edit the book right now.

I’m not exactly sure when I’ll be re-self publishing the book, but I’ll let you guys know as soon as I do. I’m trying to get it done as quickly as I can, but no promises. I’m also potentially planning on including a few chapters of the companion novel to BBBaWitS, which has also been renamed.

Without further ado, here is the new cover and title, The Girl of Fire and Iron! There will also be a long excerpt from the companion novel I wrote about a year ago (and am currently revising/rewriting) titled The Kingdom of Ash and Bone tentatively.

Again, I’m not exactly sure when the new book will be available, buy you’ll be the first to know! I’m thinking of doing some sort of campaign for the re-release maybe. I have a few signed bookplates that I ordered a while back and might give some of those away maybe.

I’ve literally spent the last hour making a custom map for TDoC. I put so much effort into it, it’s absolutely ridiculous. Of course, what I’m showing you today is not the finished product, but I’m pretty happy with what I have so far.

Leera is the continent where the entirety of TDoC takes place, but the sequel moves around the map a lot. What do you guys think of the maps I have so far. I’ve got a lot more coming in the future, so stay tuned for that!

Reminder that I make bookish aesthetics for $2 and book covers for $12. Feel free to contact me VIA my contact form under the contact tab if you want one. I ask that you read the description under the Services tab before you contact me, so you know what to tell me about your novel.

Writing wise, I haven’t been done a ton, but I have been reading through The Daughter of Cerridwen. I’ve been going chapter by chapter and fine tuning a little in preparation for AMM. I’ve also got NaNo just around the corner.

Are you doing NaNo this November? What’s your novel about? My user is Ellen Niarhos and you can feel free to add me as a buddy! One of the main reasons I do NaNo is to connect with other young writers, so feel free to contact me whenever about writing.

I wanted to share some of my favorite aesthetics for TDoC yet again, so enjoy! You can click on each individual image to enlarge it.

I’ll be posting weekly updates every Wednesday during November and updating you guys in word count, page count, thoughts on my revisions, and new aesthetics. I’m super excited for this NaNo and I think it’ll be my best novel yet. It’ll also be my longest finished novel to date, which is super exciting.

November is going to be one busy month for me. I have NaNoWriMo and YallFest this month, but am so excited for both!

I’m going to be taking on two projects this coming month for NaNo and couldn’t be more excited. The first is a novel I’ve been working on since August that is now in it’s seven draft, if you can believe it! The Daughter of Cerridwen has evolved to much in three months and will hopefully evolve even more in the next month, with the help of Author Mentor Match and NaNo. I’m hoping to hit 65-70K on this project.

The second project I’ll be working on it titled TRotRS and is a high fantasy novel. It’s actually the basic plot of an old shelved novel from about two years ago. It was originally titled Five Ice and I shelved it after running out of steam. I’m super excited about this project and cannot wait to keep working on it. I’m hoping to hit at least 60K on this project. Here’s an aesthetic for the project:

I haven’t done much writing today, but I am working on beefing up my first chapter of TDoC. I’ll be going one chapter at a time, as I want to up the word count by at least 10,000 words. The manuscript currently sits at 56K and I want to get it up to at least 60-65K by the end of the year.

I’ve also got a few secret side projects, like a possible sequel to TDoC, a companion to TDoC, a poetry collection, and perhaps a historical novel. I’m super excited for NaNoWriMo and for upping my word count a little bit. I’m also excited for AMM. I’ve been tracking the tag on Twitter and it’s only serving to make me more excited!

I’ve got a lot going on the month with AMM, NaNoWriMo, YallFest, and work. I’m excited for YallFest and am currently working on an intense author schedule, so I know exactly who I’m going to meet. I’m also going to be getting a new laptop soon and I’m super excited. I’m not sure when that’ll be, but I’ll hopefully be making more YouTube videos.

This isn’t really much of a writing update, because I haven’t done any writing today. But, I did make a bookish aesthetic today for my book, if that counts. I mentioned in yesterday’s update that I entered Author Mentor Match last night (AMM) and I’m super excited to see what happens as a result of that next month.

Today, I want to share some of my most recent aesthetics that I’ve made for The Daughter of Cerridwen. Keep scrolling for each aesthetic and more of the post after the aesthetics.

Let me know what you think of all of them! I also made a new Pinterest board for TDoC, if you want to check it out.

I also have a Spotify playlist! Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next update!

I’m currently on my way to hitting 57K on draft seven of The Daughter of Cerridwen! I’ve also got some writing news that’s not related to TDoC, if you’ll bare with me.

My first novel, which I self published last December, titled Bound by Blood and Written in the Stars, is set to be republished later this year. It’ll be reedited, with a new title and cover.

My dad is actually helping me edit the book right now, surprisingly. I don’t know the exact date the book will be republished, but I’ll announce it as soon as I know! I’ve already reworked the cover and am in love with it! I’ll be sharing that super soon, as I want to get some feedback on it before I republish the book.

All that’s left now is to get the edits from my dad and revise the book! This is the first novel I ever finished, so it’s very important to me. The book is already out there and available to purchase, but is old, outdated, and not edited enough. I want to make it the absolute best it can be and I think it will be, after being republished.

In other news, I just submitted to Author Mentor Match! I’m excited to see what happens with that. I’m not exactly sure how it works, but I’ll figure it out as I go and I look forward to the challenge. It will be a different kind of challenge, but one I’m definitely excited for.

It’ll be fun to take AMM and NaNoWriMo on at the same time, as well as worry about YallFest and all that comes with it.